The nearly constant spring rain let up enough this Monday for us to make a trip over to Chattahoochee Bend State Park. Chattahoochee Bend, Georgia’s 5th largest State Park, is a kayakers haven, along with having hiking trails and plenty of camping. The park winds along the Chattahoochee river and is home to diverse wildlife and lush green forest.

When we arrived at the park, I was so surprised by how nice it was. Chattahoochee Bend had by far the cleanest, nicest facilities of any park we have visited. The visitors center had rocking chairs on a wrapping front porch, very friendly employees, and kayak rentals available. We stopped in to grab a map, and decided to drive down to the Riverside trail. It was marked as “easy”, and follows the path of the Chattahoochee River.

We started along the trail, and I was so surprised by how different it felt than other GA trails. Low hanging vines, bright green leaves, and scattered creeks surrounded us. When our son wasn’t singing “we’re going on a bear hunt”, the only sounds were chirping birds and gurgling streams. It felt very secluded and really “out in nature”, even though we only hiked a few miles. We stopped to observe the beaver pond, but sadly didn’t spot any beavers. About a mile into the trail, we came to the observation tower, which was a wooden tower about two stories up. We climbed up and enjoyed the view of the muddy river. The trail itself went several more miles than we hiked, but the weather was very dismal that day, and no one likes getting caught in a downpour several miles into a trail!

We finished off our quick visit by visiting the playground, which seemed very new, much like all the bathrooms and facilities. Rain started to come down shortly after that, so we decided to head on home. Although our visit was cut short, this is a park I would love to visit again, and even take the kayaks out. The camping areas also seemed very nice…perhaps we’ll have to make a little trip out of it next time!